Truth and Lies
by aziza
Summary: A continuation of the ending, and the focus is on Leo. Yet another romantic interest emerges... (and I know I've changed the name about five times.) Please read/review.
1. Default Chapter

Leo came to, lying on a hard cot. The first rays of morning began to shine through the bars which separated him from the outside world. He felt as though he was in a scene from a jail movie, back in his own time.  
  
The statue of General Thade puzzled him; he though the maniacal chimpanzee had been locked away. And how it got to this planet, much like his own, perplexed him even more. When he had left, the apes had not heard of a simple motor; how could they have come to understand physics and space travel in such a short time? Leo began to ponder more and more questions, but these questions were ones that were without answers. He felt doomed to wonder for eternity. What had happened to Daena, to Ari, to all of the apes and humans he had known? Or what of his long lost ship? Were these two worlds parallel, and connected? If this earth existed, how could the one he had just come from do so too?  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud slam of the door. He heard harsh footsteps, pounding out an angry reveille on the concrete floor. A dark figure appeared outside his cell, unlocked the door, and then walked inside. Leo remained huddled on his bed, feeling much like Pericles when faced with danger. A long arm reached down, and grabbed him roughly, bringing him instantly to his feet and marching him out. The ape locked his wrists behind his back, and resumed dragging him. Leo went along without a protest; he needed time to create a strategy and gather a sense of his surroundings.  
  
All of the sudden, Leo felt a strong blast of fresh air and sunlight, a stark contrast from the dank, dingy light and smell of the prison. He looked out, onto a crowd of thousands, upon thousands. Evidently, whatever was about to occur was an event of great importance. The minute he came in view of the gargantuan crowd, they immediately became silent.  
  
He was bound, hands and feet at that point, and was pushed out, in front of the crowd. A booming voice began to sound out. "For crimes committed by his race against the world of apes, this man has been sentenced to death. For many thousands of years, humans held apes to be an inferior species. Taken as slaves, as pets, as mediocre beings, the humans believed themselves superior and their dominance prevented the truth, prevented the apes from taking what was rightfully theirs. They held their powers of invention over us in cruelty. We cowered at their glance, at their every move. But then, our savior, General Thade, came from the heavens and helped us regain our lands and authority. This man deserves to die for the sins of the humans." The voice continued on, spouting propaganda and hateful speech against humanity. Leo felt he could hear no more.  
  
At once, the crowd seemed to become enraged. They began chanting, chanting for the death of the human who stood before them. Two soldiers appeared behind Leo, unbeknownst to him.  
  
He heard the shots just as they entered his body. He gasped for a minute, a last breath, and tried to make a final appeal. He screamed, a wordless cry, calling out for his errors and mistakes, "NOO!!!"  
  
Leo sat up at once, hitting his head on the low ceiling above him. He lay back down on his bed, shaking for a moment. He realized he was still on his ship-none of this other, ape-world had existed.  
  
Through the thin door, Kat heard Leo. She wondered what happened, and wanted to go and find out. But she couldn't admit to Leo that she cared. Not Major Katherine Cooper, the brilliant and beautiful researcher who had devoted her life to apes. She had been hurt too many times, and was afraid to open up, to admit her feelings. Leo was strong, devoted, and handsome. She couldn't imagine a more perfect mate, in an evolutionary sense. But also in an emotional one, she reminded herself. She had felt the sexual tension between them from the day they met. Which was why she scathingly mocked him, with her sarcastic and biting words. She knew there was attraction, she knew there was potential, and it scared her.  
  
The next morning, Leo woke up, exhausted and groggy. He rolled out of the small bunk which was his bed. The shower was a few steps to the left, and the bathroom a few to the right, each concealed by Plexiglas doors. He felt the warm water of the shower hitting him, bringing him back to reality from his thoughts of apes and other worlds. 


	2. A Return to Normality

"Major Leo Davidson, reporting for duty, sir". Leo saluted.  
  
(A/N: Sorry to be so anticlimactic. Repeat the beginning bit of the movie, up until it's discovered that Pericles is lost.)  
  
Leo grudgingly walked back to the ape station. He couldn't believe that Pericles was gone. He had been his companion, his mate, his partner. Leo threw himself down in a chair, and covered his face with his hands. But he should not attempt to rescue Pericles—he remembered the events of his nightmare.  
  
Leo felt divided over the thoughts of rescue: should he trust his intuition, or should he do what he felt he should. It was only a dream, he told himself, and dreams are not to be trusted. He was a rational human being, and in his mind the end result outweighed the risk. But he felt a sense of foreboding, and reminded himself of the similarities from his dream to what had just transpired. He began running his fingers through his hair, deliberating about what he should do.  
  
Suddenly, he heard quick footsteps behind him. A delicate pair of fingers began kneading his shoulders. "Major, what are you doing here?" Leo asked her, hoping his voice would not betray his distraught situation. It did.  
  
"Leo, it's okay. Pericles will hopefully return. And if not, well, then you need to learn to move on." Kat wanted to be comforting, and was afraid she was failing—miserably. She had not truly dealt emotionally with another human, since Dan. And Dan was different: he was a mistake. She had her apes, and she understood them. They were innocent and pure—they did not trifle with this silly thing that humans call "emotion".  
  
Leo was too caught up in his misery that it failed to impress upon him the significance of Kat trying to help him. She and him seemed to have been on knives and daggers for the past two years; he felt something unresolved. It was not for several hours later, long after she had returned to her duties, that he had realized what had happened.  
  
Leo was deathly afraid of ruining any tentative steps she had made forward. It could have been a one-time incident, he told himself, maybe she was out of her mind. He thought he had better go and thank her anyways.  
  
He walked down the long, white hallway which led to the ape laboratory. He looked quickly in one of the windows, and smiled. There she was, playing with a baby chimp as though it were a human infant.  
  
"Madonna with chimp?" He asked, as he walked in. She laughed, a wonderful sound, like bells pealing. She smiled.  
  
"So, do you need anything?" She asked him, her eyes sparkling.  
  
"Well, um, I guess…" Leo suddenly began to fumble with his words. His cool exterior had suddenly deserted him, and he felt like a fourth grader trying to give the girl he liked a valentine. "Thank you for earlier." He blurted out. He felt his face go red, and he began to shuffle his feet embarrassedly. What had just come over him? Since when had Leo Davidson, the king of cool and suave, become speechless and awkward.  
  
"Don't worry about it. It's always hard to lose someone close to you." Kat thought back to an anguished girl, weeping outside a burning house. She remembered that day, and she remembered the pain she had gone through for the next few years. And then there was Dan, another heartbreak. "But you know, he isn't necessarily lost. We might find him." She tried to sound positive, and upbeat, but she knew it was not the truth. 


	3. Chapter 3

That night, Kat lay in bed. She couldn't sleep—her thoughts were overtaking her. Suddenly, she heard a crash, and then hurried footsteps. Immediately, she thought of Leo, and leapt out of bed, dressing, and running down the corridor.  
  
It was just as she'd thought: Leo was about to take one of the pods, undoubtedly to search for Pericles. "Leo" she cried, and ran into the pod. Just at that moment, the doors closed, and he took off. It was too late. The two of them were both stuck in the tiny cockpit.  
  
"Kat, what are you doing?" Leo exploded.  
  
"What are you doing? We have no idea where Pericles could be! This is dangerous, and foolish. You're endangering yourself, and this pod."  
  
"Okay, we're going back and dropping you off." Leo stated firmly.  
  
"Leo, no! We're going back and both of us are getting off." Kat knew it was pointless: Leo was headstrong, and when he became determined, there was no stopping him.  
  
They flew in quickly, landed, and Leo immediately took off again. Kat knew she had one thing to do, and jumped in another one of the pods. She closed the doors, and a few seconds later was zooming after Leo.  
  
"Leo, where do you think Pericles has gone?" She asked over the radio.  
  
"KAT! What the fuck are you doing!" Leo roared.  
  
"I'm following you, because I'm every bit as impetuous as you are." She responded. And I'm not going to let him go alone, she thought to herself, silently.  
  
"Kat, you moron. Go back—this is something I have to do, and I don't want you to get hurt because of me." Leo sighed, tiredly attempting to persuade her to return.  
  
"Leo, if we're going to find Pericles, you might as well accept the fact that I'm coming too."  
  
"Fine." Leo resignedly replied. "I'm not sure. As you know, he was headed into that big storm. I thought I—we—might as well go over and find out what exactly it is."  
  
"Copy that. Let's go." She accelerated past him, egging him into a race.  
  
"Holy shit!" Kat heard the crackling of the radio, and then felt herself twisting, and shaking, and losing control.  
  
At once, the two pods dropped into the sky of a green, luscious planet. 


End file.
